c4countdown

Well, well, we're now two-thirds of the way through the year.

Chris now has 2 wins and just about everyone seems to think that the Series is either going to be won by him, Innis or Andrew.

Still, Chris only has 2 wins, so he's nowhere near qualified yet and if he blobs today, then we might have something interesting to discuss, not that any of Chris' words or his Rubik's Cube abilities are not interesting.

I was personally pleased with myself that I got OESTRONE yesterday, since I saw it in an Apterous game I had on Sunday. , although slightly annoyed that OESTROGEN could have been got if Chris had tried to go for a G with the last letter.

Still, we live and learn.

ACORN ARSE

(Though I actually went for CORNERS - cos I'm a simple girl)

Wonder if that's the apterous Julie Lane?

BINAURAL for round 3. Thanks, Pearl Jam. Posting before DC spoils my fun...

EDIT: Fuck you DC.

DOODAHS as a beater in round 6

ARGOSIES as a beater in round 9

different method for 2nd numbers:

8 x 8 = 64, +1 = 65, x 10 = 650
650 - 25 + 1 = 626

Matt Morrison wrote:different method for 2nd numbers:

8 x 8 = 64, +1 = 65, x 10 = 650
650 - 25 + 1 = 626

What was up the tree, Matt?

Sue Sanders wrote:What was up the tree, Matt?

Heaven. Maybe.

Matt Morrison wrote:

Sue Sanders wrote:What was up the tree, Matt?

Heaven. Maybe.

They'll cram a nightclub in anywhere these days.

I think REFORGE is OK

Peter Mabey wrote:I think REFORGE is OK

No need to think. You can be sure if you just check it.

3rd numbers:

(10 + 3 + 9) x 25

Those letters rounds were mainly just like a really miserable game of Scrabble - amazing that Chris could pull that score out of it!

GAH! I was really hoping for "unairable" to be in. As in "Susie's comment at the start was almost unairable"

No luck though
Chris has been unlucky with so few 9s available so far (maybe 0? I've not checked)

Kieran Child wrote:GAH! I was really hoping for "unairable" to be in. As in "Susie's comment at the start was almost unairable"

No luck though
Chris has been unlucky with so few 9s available so far (maybe 0? I've not checked)

PREMORBID was available in Friday's game, but I'd never heard of it anyway!

What was the conundrum scramble?

Oliver Garner wrote:What was the conundrum scramble?

KNITREIGN if that fits

I would just like to say I was beaten 88-110 and it was a pleasure to see Chris performing so well today. Super stuff mate. Keep it up.

This Chris guy is pretty good, has he met apterous yet?

Eoin Monaghan wrote:This Chris guy is pretty good, has he met apterous yet?

Yes.

Innis Carson wrote:Wonder if that's the apterous Julie Lane?

Yes its ME!! Unfortunately I didn't discover Apterous until after the filming. Not that it would have made any difference to the outcome! Well done Chris.

Matt Morrison wrote:

Eoin Monaghan wrote:This Chris guy is pretty good, has he met apterous yet?

Yes.

Indeed.

Ben Wilson wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote:

Eoin Monaghan wrote:This Chris guy is pretty good, has he met apterous yet?

Yes.

Indeed.

very much so.

Matt Morrison wrote:BINAURAL for round 3. Thanks, Pearl Jam. Posting before DC spoils my fun...

EDIT: Fuck you DC.

And I thought I had a DC-equaller with RUINABLE^ (which is in Chambers) until I checked Lexplorer, so similar sentiments towards ODE.

The letters today certainly favoured someone with knowledge of unusual words - I get the impression that Chris also knows what they all mean, which is doubly impressive.

Just having a little think about BIN- being used as a prefix for the formation of compound "two" words like BINARY, BINOCULARS and BINAURAL.

Why BIN-? I can understand why something is added to BI- as BIARY, BIOCULARS and BIAURAL are definitely grim and possibly ambiguous, but why the N? Odd query, I know.

Was desperately hoping for Chris to pick a final consonant in round three for BALLERINA. And you could just see it in his eyes that he was eyeing up ASTEROIDS in the ROADIES round.

Kirk Bevins wrote:I would just like to say I was beaten 88-110 and it was a pleasure to see Chris performing so well today. Super stuff mate. Keep it up.

Cheers Kirk

Matt Morrison wrote:Why BIN-? I can understand why something is added to BI- as BIARY, BIOCULARS and BIAURAL are definitely grim and possibly ambiguous, but why the N?

I think the N is added before a vowel simply to make pronunciation easier.

Phil Reynolds wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote:Why BIN-? I can understand why something is added to BI- as BIARY, BIOCULARS and BIAURAL are definitely grim and possibly ambiguous, but why the N?

I think the N is added before a vowel simply to make pronunciation easier.

Yeah, just wondered if there was any inherent reason as to why N was chosen, and not, say, T... BITARY, BITOCULARS and BITAURAL all sound fine to me (and joyfully provide the same 'bin'/'byne' pronunciation possibilities that we mentioned before in the form of 'bit'/'byte'! ). Odd query I know. Me thinking out loud.

Phil Reynolds wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote:Why BIN-? I can understand why something is added to BI- as BIARY, BIOCULARS and BIAURAL are definitely grim and possibly ambiguous, but why the N?

I think the N is added before a vowel simply to make pronunciation easier.

... and my dictionary says that bini is the Latin for 'two by two', so there is some logic for using the N to separate the vowels.

Talking of BINAURAL, I first came across the word when the BBC did the 'first' binaural broadcast, in the mid 70s, I think. It was a short wordless drama (footsteps on gravel, etc.). Listeners were under strict instructions to wear stereo headphones to appreciate the full effect. Sadly I haven't been able to find any reference to it, though I think that it was on Radio 3, as that had the earliest stereo broadcasts of the BBC radio stations. It did get some publicity at the time, though I don't think it's been aired since. Can't think why.

Brian Moore wrote:

Phil Reynolds wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote:Why BIN-? I can understand why something is added to BI- as BIARY, BIOCULARS and BIAURAL are definitely grim and possibly ambiguous, but why the N?

I think the N is added before a vowel simply to make pronunciation easier.

... and my dictionary says that bini is the Latin for 'two by two', so there is some logic for using the N to separate the vowels.

Thanks Brian, that sounds like just the answer I was after!
And my own BINAURAL reference: this.

Brian Moore wrote:
The letters today certainly favoured someone with knowledge of unusual words - I get the impression that Chris also knows what they all mean, which is doubly impressive.

What gives you that impression? I don't get that impression. When he offered DEHISCE yesterday he said "I knew what that one meant" implying a lot of his obscure words he has no idea of the meaning. This is not a bad thing at all but I'm just curious as to where you got this impression from, Brian.

Just caught up, really enjoyed today's game, matched Chris in each of the first 14 rounds, then just edged him to the conundrum after some Hansfordage.

Gotta say Chris, you do seem really nervous, but given how polished today's performance was it really doesn't matter. Well played.

Kirk Bevins wrote:

Brian Moore wrote:
The letters today certainly favoured someone with knowledge of unusual words - I get the impression that Chris also knows what they all mean, which is doubly impressive.

What gives you that impression? I don't get that impression. When he offered DEHISCE yesterday he said "I knew what that one meant" implying a lot of his obscure words he has no idea of the meaning. This is not a bad thing at all but I'm just curious as to where you got this impression from, Brian.

Hmm, just Chris's body language/reactions (he doesn't look or sound surprised by Susie's definitions) ... I'll study more closely tomorrow. Perhaps I should have written "..which would be doubly impressive", to cover myself.

Matt Morrison wrote:Thanks Brian, that sounds like just the answer I was after!

Of course I knew 'bini' was Latin for 'two by two' because of the song that Caecilius used to sing while he was at Cambridge: "Bestia iverunt bini, heia, heia", which refers to animals using a certain size of wood to make a boat, I think.

Well played Chris.

Brian Moore wrote:Talking of BINAURAL, I first came across the word when the BBC did the 'first' binaural broadcast, in the mid 70s, I think. It was a short wordless drama (footsteps on gravel, etc.). Listeners were under strict instructions to wear stereo headphones to appreciate the full effect. Sadly I haven't been able to find any reference to it, though I think that it was on Radio 3

Oh Brian. You don't need to look very far.

Phil Reynolds wrote:

Brian Moore wrote:Talking of BINAURAL, I first came across the word when the BBC did the 'first' binaural broadcast, in the mid 70s, I think. It was a short wordless drama (footsteps on gravel, etc.). Listeners were under strict instructions to wear stereo headphones to appreciate the full effect. Sadly I haven't been able to find any reference to it, though I think that it was on Radio 3

Oh Brian. You don't need to look very far.

Ha - thanks Phil!

I wouldn't mind having sexual intercourse with that 40+yr old powerlifting champion.


Now there's a sentence I never thought I'd say.

Brian Moore wrote:bini is the Latin for 'two by two'.

I work with a guy called Bini. There's only one of him though (that I know of)